Kevin Magnussen has revealed that his former employees McLaren did not assist him to securing a 2016 race seat with rivals Renault in place of the ousted Pastor Maldonado.
During 2015, McLaren made the decision not to renew the Dane’s deal with the team as they did not want to hamper his chances of a race seat elsewhere for the 2016 season with McLaren chairman Ron Dennis saying at the time that McLaren“will do all we can to help him successfully embark on the next chapter of his racing career”.
When Magnussen was asked if he received any assistance acquiring his Renault race seat, he said, “No, McLaren didn’t help me.”
After a disappointing 2015 season on the sidelines and without a deal in any other motorsports series, Magnussen is itching to get back behind the wheel for Renault, starting with the pre-season tests later this month.
“It’s nice to have a fresh start,” he said. “I’m happy to be with this team. It’s a brilliant opportunity.
“I feel much more relaxed this time, I felt a lot of pressure the first time round with McLaren. I feel pressure now but in a more positive way. I feel more ready, I feel good.”
Magnussen believes the team must be patient if they want to return to the winning ways of the past, with his thoughts echoing those of Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn.
“You can always hope, but it is important to be realistic about where we are,” he said. “It’s a completely new set-up but Renault has done this before, the exact same set-up and I believe they will do it again.
“But you have to be patient as well, things don’t just happen. So we will be realistic and take it race-by-race and just race as hard as we can.”
